Kansas Organization of State Employees

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Will you STICK with your UNION? We Are!

Here at KOSE we will stick with our UNION and our Members as we have always done since 2007 when KOSE was created. And we want to know if you are willing to do the same? Let us know by taking a selfie proclaiming you are #UNION or are I am Stickin With Your UNION! post your picture on your selected social media and tag us on either Facebook or Twitter or better yet on both.

Smears vs. solutions

Randi Weingarten at a Massachusetts high school

Summer is upon us, and parents, children and teachers are winding down from what has been an exhausting and fully operational school year—the first since the devastating pandemic. The long-lasting impact of COVID-19 has affected our students’ and families’ well-being and ignited the politics surrounding public schools. All signs point to the coming school year unfolding with the same sound and fury, and if extremist culture warriors have their way, being even more divisive and stressful.

In AFT President Randi Weingarten’s latest New York Times column, she describes what it is exactly that unions do. Though unions are the most popular they have been in decades, anti-union sentiment still thrives in red states and across the nation. “Several years ago, The Atlantic ran a story whose headline made even me, a labor leader, scratch my head: ‘Union Membership: Very Sexy,’” Weingarten writes in the column. “The gist was that higher wages, health benefits and job security—all associated with union membership—boost one’s chances of getting married. Belonging to a union doesn’t actually guarantee happily ever after, but it does help working people have a better life in the here and now.” Click through to read the full column.

In defense of public education

Randi Weingarten and NYC teacher Tamara Simpson

Attacks on public education in America by extremists and culture-war peddling politicians have reached new heights (“lows” may be more apt), but they are not new. The difference today is that the attacks are intended not just to undermine public education but to destroy it.

KOSE Vision Statement

KOSE strives to create safe, employee-centered workplaces that enable every member to feel supported, fulfilled, accomplished, and equipped to provide high-quality services to the citizens of Kansas.

A new approach to assessing suicide risk

From the Wichita Eagle.

BY MICHAEL BURKE

Last month, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shocked Kansas health officials and the public alike when it reported that the suicide rate in our state had increased 45 percent between 1999 and 2016.

Kansas’ rate easily exceeded the suicide rate of the nation overall, which the CDC reported as having risen to 25.4 percent. Kansas’ suicide rate ranks 19th overall.

Suicide has become one of our state’s most critical

KOSE is committed to helping our members achieve their goals, as such we are excited to be able to extend this amazing opportunity for our parent union, AFSCME, to our members.

It's AFSCME's mission to give you every advantage to get ahead. That's why they've partnered with Eastern Gateway Community College.

Through the AFSCME Free College benefit, you and your family members can earn an associate degree, completely online – for FREE.

Download this flyer for more information.

Learn more at freecollege.afscme.org